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Mysterious Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic wins Arizona Concours

Mullin Museum’s masterpiece -- still no one knows the price -- takes top honors

January 16, 2017

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One of -- if not the -- most beautiful cars in the world won Best of Show at Sunday’s Arizona Concours, the glamorous kickoff event to a week of extravagant auctions held in and around Scottsdale, Arizona. No one complained about the judges’ pick.

-- A 1937 Lagonda LG45 Rapide sport tourer, owned by the Stephens family of San Francisco. The car is one of only 25 Rapides built … before the modern Aston Martin Rapide, of course.

-- A 1955 Ferrari 250 Europa coupe with coachwork by Vignale owned by Kevin Cogan of Louisville, Kentucky. It was the first Europa model produced by Ferrari, debuting at the Paris Auto Salon in 1953.

-- A 1933 Marmon V16 convertible coupe, owned by Aaron and Valerie Weiss of San Marino, California, a large luxury vehicle and the last car produced by the Indianapolis automaker best-known for the Marmon Wasp that won the inaugural Indianapolis 500-mile race.

But it was the beautiful Bugatti Type 57SC that won it all, just as it had won Best of Show at Pebble Beach only a few years before. And it won despite the fact that it had to be pushed over the ramp to accept its reward, something that would have disqualified it from winning Pebble, by the way. Rumor was it was out of gas.

A beautifull magnesium body remains beautiful 90 years after it was built. Photo by Larry Edsall

Seven years after its coming out with its new owners, the car still carries some mystery about it. When it was most recently sold, no one knew how much it cost or even for sure who the new owners were. Well, we still don’t know how much it cost -- rumors said $38 million to $40 million, the most-ever paid for a car at that time. But those are -- like everything in the news nowadays -- just rumors. Further, the sale was originally supposed to have gone to the Mullin Museum, a perfect destination since it is perhaps the greatest repository of art deco cars and other trappings ever assembled. But no one was saying that for sure. Then, soon after the sale, at least two of the owners were revealed as Peter and Merle Mullin, namesakes of the Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard, California. On Sunday, if you looked at the entry plaque at the Arizona Concours, you could see two other names: Rob and Melani Walton. You may have heard of Walmart.

“So I guess even billionaires have to partner on cars nowadays,” joked Keith Martin, publisher of Sports Car Market and an emcee of the concours every year it’s been held.

Warner Hall, a senior docent from the Mullin, where the car usually resides, was the Bugatti’s caretaker at the concours. Could he possibly have been surprised when the judges’ decision was announced?

“Maybe a little,” he said. “We didn’t want to count on anything, especially in a field (of cars) this fabulous. This is such an amazing event, and there are some really amazing cars here.”

The Bugatti ran... at first, then ran out of gas.

The Atlantic had won the special class of “Cars of Ettore and Jean Bugatti,” which included eight spectacular examples of Bugatti artistry and performance, including three historic 1920s Grand Prix cars once raced by famous female drivers in Europe.

The Mullin/Walton car is one of just three Atlantics ever built. Another -- all in black, which also won Best in Show at Pebble -- belongs to Ralph Lauren. Each is distinct, and all three were derived from the Bugatti Aerolithe Electron Coupe prototype shown at the 1935 Paris Auto Salon. The Arizona-winning car wears chassis No. 57374 and is the first in the series. It was formerly part of the Williamson Bugatti Collection, and Gooding & Co. was the broker for the family trust that owned the car. Seldom seen before the current owners purchased it, the car has taken on an almost mythical status.

As has the Arizona Concours. This year there were 95 cars arrayed on the show field, divided into 17 classes. And you could say of each car on that field, as the girl on that "Seinfeld" episode famously said, “They’re real and they're spectacular.”

“The car that wins Best in Show sends a message to the world about just what level this concours is playing,” said Martin. “Part of the way you judge an event is by which car wins. This Atlantic may be the most expensive car ever sold. You have 2 of the foremost collectors in the world, with the most spectacular car in the world, and where did they decide to show it? The Arizona Concours. Having that car there lifted the whole field.”

The concours is also highly curated. They have room for just 95 cars. So the cars you see here are the best of the best.

Aaron Weiss' Marmon V16 was a runner-up. Photo by Larry Edsall

“I like the event because it’s tidy, compact and each car is extraordinary,” Martin said. “Every year the cars are more spectacular.”

Even weather couldn’t dampen the spirit. While the first three events were held under sunny skies, this year you could say the skies were a little threatening. There were even forecasts of rain. But it stayed dry all day, much to the relief of a strong crowd of spectators that milled through the picturesque inner lawns of the Arizona Biltmore Resort in Phoenix, a Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired hotel that opened in 1929.

Then on Monday, the day after the Concours, many of the cars from the show hit the road for the Arizona Tour d’Elegance, an event that included a free public display of the vehicles at the scenic South Canal Bridge in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The Saturday before the Concours had featured panel discussions.

The first of the panels looked into the lives of women who raced professionally from the 1920s to the present and made their marks in a man’s world. The “Legends: Pioneer Women in Racing” panel included Janet Guthrie, the first woman to compete in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500, and Miranda Seymour, whose book, Bugatti Queen, explores the life of Hellé Nice, the famed French woman racing driver who competed in the 1920s and ’30s. The discussion was moderated by driver Lyn St. James, also of Indianapolis 500 fame. Along with the discussion were several pre-war Bugattis raced by famous woman drivers.

Another Saturday panel discussion, “Driven: The Passion Driving Race Team Owners,” team owners Chip Ganassi and Bobby Rahal. Well, it was supposed to feature Ganassi but he didn't show. Ganassi, as you know, currently has teams racing in NASCAR, IndyCar, IMSA, FIA and Red Bull Global RallyCross, so we could understand if he was busy. Rahal, as you also know, is a three-time CART Indy racing champion and an Indianapolis 500 winner who joined up with late-night host David Letterman, and now Mike Lanigan, as a team owner in 2002. Rahal Letterman Racing won the 2004 Indianapolis 500 with driver Buddy Rice. Rahal showed up.

Expect more of the same automotive greatness when the Concours celebrates its fifth running on January 14, 2018.

Net proceeds from the nationally recognized Arizona Concours, as well as generous donations from participants and spectators, totaled $130,000 this year, and benefit Make-A-Wish Arizona, the founding chapter of the international organization that grants wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions.